


If You Listen Very Hard

by benjaminrussell



Category: Leverage
Genre: F/M, Music, The boys pretend to be buskers, the violin and guitar duet we deserve
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-03
Updated: 2018-11-03
Packaged: 2019-08-16 23:57:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 853
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16505219
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/benjaminrussell/pseuds/benjaminrussell
Summary: Eliot and Hardison pretend to be buskers for a con while Parker sets up the mark and muses about their performance.





	If You Listen Very Hard

**Author's Note:**

> Title from Stairway to Heaven because I was listening to a [violin rock playlist](https://open.spotify.com/user/1297297248/playlist/1qSDDQ3APZPblDFGNcFfIH?si=Z2qshzdYQxiycDyxDM3rug) that contained the CelloVein version while I wrote this.

Parker made her way through the crowd, pinching wallets and phones without a second thought. She didn’t even feel the usual thrill of stealing, even stealing as easy as this pickpocketing was, because she was too preoccupied by listening to the music being played by the street musicians who’d drawn the crowd. The musicians were really Eliot and Hardison pretending to be buskers, playing guitar and violin respectively, but that was what made it special for Parker. She didn’t recognise the song, but it combined the bittersweet melancholy of Eliot’s country rock with the heart wrenching beauty of Hardison’s performance of Scheherazade, and the sheer quality of their playing made it unsurprising how large a crowd they’d attracted. The plan had banked on them drawing an audience, but Parker thought that even she might have underestimated just how popular the combination of Eliot and Hardison playing could be. She reached the far side of the crowd and turned around to take a second pass through just as they finished the sad ballad and changed to something a bit more upbeat, but as she turned she caught sight of their matching excited grins that were too wide to be anything but genuine, and just had to pause to watch. They were both in their usual attire but instead of a hoodie, Hardison had donned what Parker was pretty sure was one of Eliot’s flannel shirts over his D&D pride T-shirt, making them look nicely coordinated and only adding to the warm, friendly look they had going on. The sight made Parker want to hug them both tight and not let go, a feeling that only months ago would have made her want to run as far away as possible in the opposite direction, but now she’d finally got to a place where she could admit to herself what she wanted and not be too freaked out by it. In fact she vowed to herself there and then that when they were done for the day, and the con was all wrapped up, she’d tell Hardison that she thought it was time that they invited Eliot to join them in their relationship. That would have to wait though, so she broke herself out of her contemplation of the boys and returned to the task at hand.

Weaving her way back through the crowd, she lifted several more valuables until she judged she had enough, and then loitered until the mark appeared. As if Eliot and Hardison had timed it perfectly on purpose, the music flowed into thrilling ‘heist’ music and effectively served as Parker’s cue to enact the next step of the plan. She skirted the crowd, pretending she was in a hurry to get somewhere and ‘accidentally’ bumped into the mark, using the distraction to plant all the stolen valuables on his person. After that, she ducked out of sight to change her appearance by tucking her hair up under a baseball cap and ditching her jacket, before returning to join the crowd listening to the music, positioning herself just behind the mark ready for when people began to notice they’d been pickpocketed. She didn’t have to wait long though, because Eliot and Hardison finished the song they were playing and announced they were going to take a short break, causing a good handful of the audience to reach for their wallets so they could donate some money before heading on their ways, only for several of them to find their wallets were gone. The resulting outbreak of complaints made others check their valuables, triggering the rest of Parker’s targets to discover their losses and causing chaos, turning the happy crowd quickly angry. At that point, Parker knocked into the mark once more, this time pulling the same stunt she’d used during the juror job and making him spill the stolen valuables onto the floor in front of him. She didn’t even have to shout that she’d found the thief, as another audience member noticed and did it for her, drawing everyone’s attention. She slipped away before the focus could fall on her, and left the mark to the mercy of the crowd and the rapidly approaching police officer who’d been attracted by the shouting.

As she made her way back to their temporary base, she decided her next challenge was to get Eliot and Hardison to play for her when they weren’t on a con, and maybe even record some songs. They could have music nights at the brewpub! If she just happened to mention their talent to Amy and the other staff members, she was sure they’d jump right on the idea and be more than willing to help her persuade the boys to play for the brewpub customers. Ideas for her new scheme swirling round in her head, she almost felt like she was bouncing as she hurried back to the hotel room to prepare for the last part of the con. And if she pulled up the recordings from their earbuds so she could listen to the music again as she worked, well neither of them needed to know.


End file.
